A prominent Dallas-area imam, Omar Suleiman, has received at least two death threats in lengthy videos that appear to come from the violent extremist group known as ISIS or Islamic State.

Suleiman is now in contact with FBI officials, he said. The Irving-based, New Orleans-born imam believes he has been targeted because of his moderate views, his condemnation of ISIS and his ecumenical work to help foster a greater understanding of Islam.

A spokeswoman for the FBI would not confirm or deny an investigation. But a Dallas-area security consultant said he believes the videos constitute a real threat from ISIS. And a former FBI agent said such threats should be taken seriously.

The Arabic headline in one video reads "Kill the imams of the disbelief,” said Suleiman and the security consultant Mohamed Elibiary. Both men are fluent in Arabic.

In one of the videos, Suleiman appears briefly in a clip walking with the Rev. Andy Stoker, senior minister of First United Methodist Church. That video with Stoker was previously released in December as a way to promote interfaith understanding.

In it, Suleiman reads from an email written by Stoker in which the minister says: “I believe in your work and I believe in you. We are better together than apart."

Suleiman said he is taking the threat seriously and has increased his security. The 29-year-old imam is founder of the Irving-based Yaqeen Institute, whose mission is to combat extremists and deepen understanding of the religion. He is also the resident scholar at the Valley Ranch Islamic Center and teaches a course in Islamic studies at Southern Methodist University.

He is co-chair of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square, an interfaith coalition.

Suleiman rose to broader prominence after the July 7th shootings of law enforcement officers in downtown Dallas that followed a peaceful demonstration against police-involved shootings of minorities. The imam was one of many addressing a memorial service in July that was attended by then-President Barack Obama.

Imam Omar Suleiman and the Rev. Andy Stoker of First United Methodist Church.

Suleiman helped lead protests in January at the DFW International Airport over an executive order by President Donald Trump that restricted travel from seven Muslim-majority countries and temporarily suspended refugee resettlement.

Suleiman said he saw great irony in the threatening videos. "The clip is of me saying Muslims are obliged to be upright American citizens and follow the laws of the land. That is what sharia, Islam's legal code, requires of us."

"There is an irony that we literally have to fight two battles at the same time all the time," Suleiman said. "We have to prove to skeptical Americans that we are truly American and prove to extremist Muslims that we are truly Muslim. Both say the same thing, that Islam and American values are inherently at odds with each other: 'You cannot be both a loyal American and loyal Muslim.'"

Suleiman has said he is deeply American and loves his country, especially his hometown of New Orleans with its mix of colors and creeds.

At the First United Methodist Church, Stoker said he knows about the threats and met with Suleiman to discuss it. "Obviously, I care deeply for Omar and what he is doing for and with his congregation," said Stoker, who was effusive in his praise for the imam.

Elibiary, who runs Lone Star Intelligence, said he has viewed the video and believes it is from ISIS. Elibiary, a Muslim, has advised the Department of Homeland Security and now advises local clerics.

Elibiary said it is not the first threat made by Islamic State and that he and other Muslims, including imams, were targeted last year by an online ISIS publication. All of them have tried to counter the extremism and violence of ISIS, Elibiary said.

ISIS supporters "are calling for killing clerics they see as sellouts who are not supporting them but are opposing them," Elibiary said. "Omar Suleiman is obviously opposing them, and he is popular and has supporters in the Middle East."

Elibiary emphasized that there "hasn't been any active initiation of a terrorist plot targeting an American Muslim leader. So it is in the file of aspirational rather than imminent."

Art Fontes, a former FBI agent now running a security firm, said such threats should be taken seriously because of the nature of ISIS. They seek to get followers with little of the traditional grooming used by drug cartels or mafias, he said.

"You just have to be a sympathizer and attack the disbeliever or infidels, and then you become a hero after the act is done," said Fontes, who isn't involved in this case.

"Based on my experience on working terrorism overseas," he said, "the threat should be taken seriously."